It is easy to offer views on what is wrong with our housing system. It is easy to describe how it should be. But it is an entirely different proposition to offer a realistic way of getting from our current and recurring mess to something better.

We do have shared ownership schemes that can help people get on to the housing ladder, but minimum income requirements mean that, in most areas, these are not available to people whose incomes are lower than £20,000.

Public funding has a role to play, but a suitable policy and fiscal framework is required to support alternatives. Housing policy under successive governments has not been clearly formed – indeed, in places it has been confused and contradictory.